Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T11:18:33.722Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pioneering Iranian Studies in Meiji Japan: Between Modern Academia and International Strategy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Kenji Kuroda
Kenji Kuroda*
Affiliation:
Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation, the National Institute for the Humanities and also at the Center for the Modern Middle East Studies, the National Museum of Ethnology (MINPAKU), Japan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between academic studies concerning Iran in Meiji Japan (1868‒1912) and Orientalism in Western scholarship. Many researchers who have limited their definition of Iranian studies to the professional works published since the 1930s have concluded that there is an indirect relation between Iranian studies in Japan and Orientalism. In contrast, this paper takes it in a wider sense to mean all academic studies regarding Iran. The paper focuses on two such important proto-academic fields regarding foreign countries in Meiji Japan: geography and international politics. It concludes that the pioneering Iranian studies scholars in the Meiji period were not totally immune to Orientalism on the one hand but, on the other, that their research on Iran was less closely connected to imperialism than the Western scholarship that Edward Said famously critiqued.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 5 , September 2017 , pp. 651 - 670
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [grant number 26750266] and NIHU Area Studies Project for the Modern Middle East at MINPAKU.

References

Andreeva, Elena. Russia and Iran in the Great Game: Travelogues and Orientalism. London: Routledge. 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ariga, Nagao. “Kokkai Perushawan kan no kōro shinkai” [The new trans-Black Sea-Persian Gulf route]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 39 (1901): 30–34.Google Scholar
Ariga, Nagao. “Hon’nen matsu no Ōshū Gaikō Keisei: Perusha Mondai” [Year-end report on the European diplomatic formation: concerning the problem of Persia]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 156 (1910): 47–52.Google Scholar
D’Avril, Adolphe. “Le golfe Persique: route de l’Inde et de la Chine. Augustion Challamel.” (The Persian Gulf: Route to India and China) In Extrait de la Revue des Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales. Paris: Librarie Maritime et Coloniale, 1901. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k870156m/f1.item.r=Golfe%20Persique%20Avril.zoomGoogle Scholar
Driver, Felix. Geography Militant: Cultures of Exploration and Empire. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001.Google Scholar
Fukushima, Yasumasa. “Ajia Ryokōdan” [Asian travelogue: Part 1]. Journal of Geography 14, no. 9 (1898): 1–7.Google Scholar
Fukushima, Yasumasa. “Persusha Kikō” [Travel to Persia]. In Chū Ajia Kiji [Articles on Central Asia and the Middle East.], edited and translated by Kaneko, Tamio. reprint as Kaigai Tokōki Sōsho 3. Tokyo: Yūshōdō Shuppan, 1990.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijō 1” [Persian affairs 1]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 3, no. 5 (1881): 1–9.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 2” (Persian affairs 2). Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokio Geographical Society] 3, no. 7 (1881): 1–28.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 3” [Persian affairs 3]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 3, no. 8 (1881): 1–46.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 4” [Persian affairs 4]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 3, no. 9 (1881): 1–19.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 5” [Persian affairs 5]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 3, no. 10 (1881): 1–10.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 6” [Persian affairs 6]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 4, no. 1 (1882): 1–10.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 7” [Persian affairs 7]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 4, no. 2 (1882): 1–14.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. “Perusha-Jijou 8” [Persian affairs 8]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 4, no. 3 (1882): 1–15.Google Scholar
Furukawa, Nobuyoshi. Perusha Kikō [Travels to Persia]. Tokyo: Sanbō Honbu, 1894. Accessed December 13, 2015. http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2385846Google Scholar
Grothe, Hugo. Wanderungen in Persien: Erlebtes und Erschautes [Travel in Persia: Experiences and Memoirs]. Berlin: Allgemeiner Verein für Deutsche Literatur, 1910.Google Scholar
Hiranuma, Yoshiro. “Perusha no Keisei” [The current situation in Persia]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 150 (1910): 52–59.Google Scholar
Hiranuma, Yoshiro. “Perusha no Keisei Shōzen” [Current situation in Persia Part 2]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 151 (1910): 25–38.Google Scholar
Honjuku, Ienori. “Perushakai Kōkai Kiji” [Report on a Persian Gulf voyage]. Tokyo Chigaku Kyokai Hokok [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 2, no. 7 (1880): 1–19.Google Scholar
Imoto, Eiji. “Meijijidai ni okeru Nippon Iran Kankei no Bunken ni tsuite” [About bibliographies of Japan–Iran relations in the Meiji period]. In Orientogaku Ronshū [Collected Papers of Oriental Studies], edited by the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan, 23–38. Tokyo: Tosui Shobo, 1984.Google Scholar
Ishida, Ryujiro. Nihon ni okeru Kindai Chirigaku no Seiritsu [Formation of the modern geography in Japan]. Tokyo: Daimidou, 1984.Google Scholar
Ito, Shinya. Kindai Nihon no Gaikō Rondan to Gaikō Shigaku: Senzenki no ‘Gaikō-Jihō’ to Gaikōshi Kyōiku [Publicists’ circles and studies of diplomacy in modern Japan: “Gaikō Jihō” and education of diplomatic history before World War II]. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Hyōron-sha, 2011.Google Scholar
Kawamoto, Sei’ichi. “Perusha Chiri narabi Enkaku” [The geography and history of Persia Part 1]. Toōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 2, no. 4 (1880): 1–18.Google Scholar
Kawamoto, Sei’ichi. “Perusha Chiri narabi Enkaku” [The geography and history of Persia: Part 2]. Toōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku [Journal of the Tokyo Geographical Society] 2, no. 5 (1880): 1–15.Google Scholar
Kawamura, Mitsuo. “Senzen Nihon no Isuramu/Chūtōkenkyū Shōshi: Shōwa Sanjū Nendai wo chūshin ni” [A short history of Islamic studies in Japan: a case study of the 1930s]. Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies 2 (1987): 490–439.Google Scholar
Kondo, Nobuaki. s.v. “JAPAN ii. Diplomatic and Commercial Relations with Iran.” In Encyclopædia Iranica, 2008. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/japan-ii-diplomatic-and-commercial-relations-with-iranGoogle Scholar
Kemuriyama, Sentaro. “Gendai no Perushaō Muzaffa eddhīn” [The contemporary Persian king, Muzaffar al-Din Shah]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 34 (1900): 45–52.Google Scholar
Kemuriyama, Sentaro. “Perusha no Ōi tenkō” [The succession of Persian kings]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 102 (1907): 19–21.Google Scholar
Kemuriyama, Sentaro. “Perusha Rikken Isshūnensai” [The first anniversary of the Persian constitution]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 119 (1907): 63–68.Google Scholar
Kemuriyama, Sentaro. “Dokujin no Perusha Seibu Kikō” [A German traveler to western Persia]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 125 (1908): 49–59.Google Scholar
Kemuriyama, Sentaro. “Perusha Naihun” [Civil war in Persia]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 130 (1908): 51–56.Google Scholar
Kubota, Shiro. “Perusha Ryokōdan” [Persian travelogue]. Journal of Geography 14, no. 9 (1902): 589–603. doi: 10.5026/jgeography.14.589Google Scholar
Mahan, Alfred Thayer. “Persian Gulf and International Relations.” National Review XL (1902): 27–45.Google Scholar
Makino, Ei’ichi. “Perushawan to Eikoku” [The Persian Gulf and Britain]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 58 (1902): 37–42.Google Scholar
Minamoto, Sho’kyu. “Geography in the Meiji and Taisho Eras (2).” In The Dictionary of Human Geography, edited by The Human Geographical Society of Japan, 72–73. Tokyo: Maruzen Shuppan, 2013.Google Scholar
Miyamoto, Heikuro. “Shina Indo ni taisuru Perushawan no Kankei” [Sino-Indian relations regarding the Persian Gulf]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 39 (1901): 13–29.Google Scholar
Miyamoto, Heikuro. “Perusha no Genjō oyobi Shōrai” [Contemporary Persia and its future]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 48 (1902): 56–67.Google Scholar
Mizoguchi, Akira. “From ancient to modern times: a retrospective of Japan’s relationship with the Middle East.” Asia-Pacific Review 9, no. 2 (2002): 93–103. doi: 10.1080/1343900022000036106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagase, Housuke. “Perusha ni okeru Ei Ro shōtotsu no yurai” [Reasons for the Anglo-Russo clash in Persia]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 21 (1899): 61–84.Google Scholar
Nagase, Housuke. “Perusha Kokusei Ippan: Dai Ichi” [The general state of the country in Persia: Part 1]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 156 (1910): 33–44.Google Scholar
Nagase, Housuke. “Perusha Kokusei Ippan: Dai Ni” [The general state of the country in Persia: Part 2]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 157 (1910): 29–38.Google Scholar
Nagase, Housuke. “Perusha Kokusei Ippan: Dai San” [The general state of the country in Persia: Part 3]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 160 (1911): 50–58.Google Scholar
Nagase, Housuke. “Perusha Kokusei Ippan: Dai Yon” [The general state of the country in Persia: Part 4]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 162 (1911): 27–38.Google Scholar
Nakanishi, Hisae. “Iranian Studies in Japan.” Iranian Studies 20, no. 2–4 (1987): 131–159. doi: 10.1080/00210868708701699CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oba, Kageaki. “Perusha oyobi Chūō Ajia Kenbun Ippan jō” [Report on Persia and Central Asia: Part 1]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 158 (1911): 14–28.Google Scholar
Obata, Yu’kichi. “Perusha ni okeru Rokoku no Shinsei” [The current situation of the Russian invasion of Persia: Part 1]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 86 (1905): 19–34.Google Scholar
Obata, Yu’kichi. “Perusha ni okeru Rokoku no Shinsei shozen” [The current situation of the Russian invasion of Persia: Part 2]. Gaikō Jihō, no. 87 (1905): 13–29.Google Scholar
Okazaki, Masataka. “Meiji no Nippon to Iran: Yoshida Masaharu Shisetsudan (1880) ni tsuite” [Japan and Iran in the Meiji period: study on the official delegation of Masaharu Yoshida]. Journal of Osaka University of Foreign Studies 70, no. 3 (1985): 71–86.Google Scholar
Osawa, Koji. “Shōwa Zenki ni okeru Isuramu Kenkyū: Kaikyōken Kenkyūjo to Okubo Koji” [Islamic studies in the early Shōwa period: the Research Institute of the Islamic World and Koji Okubo]. Journal of Religious Studies 78, no. 2 (2004): 493–516.Google Scholar
Otsu, Tadahiko. “Meijiki Senkakusha Yoshida Masaharu to sono Jisseki: ‘Kōkogaku’ oyobi ‘Nishi Ajia’ no Shiten yori” [Masaharu Yoshida as pioneer in the Meiji era and the achievements: in terms of archeology and West Asia]. Annual Report of the Humanities Research Institute 18 (2007): 157–170.Google Scholar
Otsu, Tadahiko. “Meijiki IENAGA Toyokichi no Perushakō to sono Shizen Kansatsu” [Toyokichi Ienaga’s experiences of Persia in the Meiji era and his nature observations]. Annual Report of the Humanities Research Institute 26 (2015): 1–14.Google Scholar
Rohrbach, Paul. Persen und die Deutschen Interessen: mit einer Karte [Persia and German Interest]. Berlin: D. Reimer, 1901.Google Scholar
Rohrbach, Paul. “Perushakoku no Genjō” [Current situation in Persia]. Translated by Toyosaburo, Nishidsuka. Gaikō Jihō no. 60 (1903): 30–50.Google Scholar
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. 1979.Google Scholar
Sugita, Hideaki. Nihonjin no Chūtō Hakken: Gyaku Enkinhō no naka no Hikaku Bunkashi [The Japanese discovery of the Middle East: comparative cultural history from the reverse perspective]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppan kai, 1995.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 1]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 4 (1910): 27–42.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 2]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 5 (1910): 38–43.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 3]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 6 (1910): 47–51.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 4]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 7 (1910): 54–65.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 5]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 9 (1910): 34–46.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 6]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 10 (1910): 38–47.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 7]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 11 (1910): 47–55.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 8]. Journal of Geography 22, no. 12 (1910): 38–43.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Mashizu. “Perusha Kōgen Ryokōki” [Persian highlands travelogue: Part 9]. Journal of Geography 23, no.1 (1911): 64–70. doi: 10.5026/jgeography.23.64Google Scholar
Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohammad. Refashioning Iran: Orientalism, Occidentalism and Historiography. New York: Palgrave. 2001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Center for East Asian Cultural Studies at the Toyo Bunko. Bibliography of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in Japan 1868–1988. Tokyo: The Center for East Asian Cultural Studies at the Toyo Bunko.Google Scholar
Usuki, Akira. “Senzen Nihon no ‘Kaikyōto Mondai Kenkyū: Kaikyōken Kenkyūjo wo chūshin toshite” [Studies on the “Muslim question” before World War II: revisiting the Research Institute of the Islamic World]. In Tōyōgaku no Jiba [Magnetic field of Oriental studies], edited by Kishimoto, Mio, 215–251, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2006.Google Scholar
Usuki, Akira. Okawa Shumei: Isuramu to Ten’nō no hazamade [Shumei Okawa: between Islam and the emperor]. Tokyo: Seido Sha, 2010.Google Scholar
Wokoeck, Ursula. German Orientalism: Study of the Middle East and Islam from 1800 to 1945. London: Routledge. 2009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamanaka, Yuriko. “Meiji Nipponjin no Perusha Taiken: Yoshida Masaharu Shisetsudan wo chūshin ni” [Japanese experiences in Persia in the Meiji era: based on the delegation of Masaharu Yoshida]. Journal of Comparative Literature 35 (1992): 117–128.Google Scholar
Yasuoka, Akio. “Shokino Tōkyō Chigaku kyōkai to Gunjin” [The early Tokyo Geographical Society and military experts]. Seiji Keizai Shigaku, no. 400 (1999): 149–162.Google Scholar
Yoshida, Masaharu. “Perusha Kikō: Bagudaddo oyobi Basura Kiko” [Travels to Persia: Baghdad and Basra]. Tōkyō Chigaku Kyōkai Hōkoku 3, no. 4 (1881): 1–22.Google Scholar
Yoshida, Masaharu. Kaikyō Tanken: Perusha no Tabi [Exploring the Muslim world: travels in Persia]. Tokyo: Hakubunkan, 1894. (Accessed December 13, 2015.) http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/767260Google Scholar